Network Relay Apparatus

1. A first communication apparatus comprising: a plurality of LSIs, each LSI including a plurality of function blocks to conduct data transfer via a line, each function block implementing at least one of a transmission process for transmitting a frame from the line, a statistical process, and a Quality of Service (QoS) control process; a load determination unit which determines a load of at least two of the function blocks included in the LSI; and a power control unit which controls power for at least two of the function blocks included in the LSI depending on the determined load of the function block.

2. The first communication apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: a receiver unit which receives a control frame from a second communication apparatus, wherein the load determination unit analyzes the received control frame to determine a load of the function block.

3. The first communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the power control unit supplies an operation voltage to the function block to control the power.

4. The first communication apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: a receiver unit which receives a control frame from a second communication apparatus, wherein the control frame is a first control frame indicating whether the line carrying the control frame is a standby system line or an operational system line, and wherein the load determination unit determines the load of the function block based on whether the line is the standby system line or the operational system line.

5. The first communication apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: a receiver unit which receives a control frame from a second communication apparatus, wherein the control frame is a second control frame which stores information on scheduled load of transmission traffic that a control relay apparatus transmits, and wherein the load determination unit determines the load of the function block based on the information on the scheduled load.

6. The first communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of LSIs includes at least two LSIs among search LSIs to determine a frame transfer destination port for a frame from a network based on header information of the frame, a switch LSI to transfer the frame toward the frame transfer destination port, and a transfer LSI to select a switch LSI to transfer the frame.

7. The first communication apparatus according to claim 6 , further comprising: a control unit coupled to at least one of the plurality of LSIs, wherein the control unit includes the load determination unit and the power control unit to supply power of the plurality of function blocks in each LSI.

8. The first communication apparatus according to claim 6 , further comprising: a control unit coupled to at least one of the plurality of LSIs, wherein the control unit includes the load determination unit and at least one of the plurality of LSIs includes the power control unit in at least one of LSIs.

9. The first communication apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the control unit monitors an operation state of the first communication apparatus, and the load determination unit determines a load of function block which is related to the monitored operation state.

10. The first communication apparatus according to claim 6 , wherein the control unit monitors a link up state including information as to whether each line is linked up, and wherein the load determination unit determines a load of a corresponding function block based on the monitored link up state.

11. The first communication apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the plurality of LSIs further comprise a load information transmission unit for exchanging the link up state or load information of the function block determined based on the link up state with other LSIs, and wherein the load determination unit determines a load of a function block in a specific LSI based on the link up states or the load information concerning a plurality of lines exchanged by the load information transmission unit.

12. The first communication apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of LSIs includes a search LSI to determine a frame transfer destination port for a frame from a network based on header information of the frame, a switch LSI to transfer the frame toward the frame transfer destination port, and a transfer LSI to select a switch LSI to transfer the frame, and wherein the transfer LSI comprises an ingress side load measurement unit and an egress side load measurement unit, and the load determination unit determines a load of a corresponding function block based on a load measured by at least one of the ingress side load measurement unit and the egress side load measurement unit.

13. A communication apparatus coupled to a network comprising: a first network LSI configured to determine a frame transfer destination port for a frame from a network based on header information of the frame and configured to include a plurality of function blocks to conduct data transfer via a line, the function block implementing at least one of a transmission process for transmitting a frame from the line, a statistical process, and a Quality of Service (QoS) control process; a second network LSI configured to transfer the frame toward the frame transfer destination port, and configured to include a plurality of function blocks to conduct data transfer via a line, the function block implementing at least one of a transmission process for transmitting a frame from the line and a statistical process; a third LSI to select a switch LSI to transfer the frame, and configured to include a plurality of function blocks to conduct data transfer via a line, the function block implementing at least one of a transmission process for a frame from the line and a statistical process; a load determination unit which determines a load of the function blocks included in at least one of the first LSI, the second LSI and the third LSI; and a power control unit which controls power for the plurality of the function blocks included in at least one of the first LSI, the second LSI and the third LSI depending on the determined load of the function block.